WRESTLING COLUMNS

"The Natural" Kenny King has been one busy person since I sat down with him for an interview in 2003. He has continued his wrestling career, recently working for TNA Wrestling and going through a WWE tryout in Daytona Beach. After a recent taping of TNA Wrestling's Impact, Mr. King joined me for a conversation at a local eatery.

Alan Wojcik: I am sure you get asked about Tough Enough 2 all the time. Besides Jackie Gayda and Jessie (she works in production), how much interaction do you have with the other former contestants?

Kenny King: No one other then Hawk and Pete who I speak to about once or twice a month. I have wrestled on some shows with Hawk and I take that back I saw Matt (Morgan) a while back during a trip he made here to Florida.

Alan Wojcik: Were you surprised Jackie, Matt, Linda Miles, Daniel Puder, Nidia and Maven were released. I think all that is left from the Tough Enough's shows are Marty Wright (Boogeyman) and John Finnegan (Johnny Nitro of MNM).

Kenny King: I am not surprised. They threw all of us into the ring way too fast. When Linda and Jackie debuted on TV (in a tag team match with two established WWE stars, Lita and Trish Stratus) they weren't ready despite training. Puder was in OVW and never really got a chance on TV. I think Tough Enough had a bad rep from the boys; Triple H hated the whole concept. I think I could have excelled in WWE but it wasn't meant to be.

Alan Wojcik: You were part of a December WWE tryout held in Daytona Beach. Were you apprehensive about going to it knowing how the WWE operates and can you talk about what you and the other people were put through as part of the tryout.

Kenny King: The Fed is real funny. I wasn't apprehensive since it was real basic stuff. There were people of all experience levels, men and women, for a two hour tryout. Bill Demott tried to blow us up in the first hour. There were people there that got into the tryout on looks alone that had never taken bumps. So lots of time was teaching them the basics. I think it was to see what could come from non-wrestlers and the ladies.

Alan Wojcik: Around the time of the tryout Kenny King had been working, in TNA Wrestling which is producing Impact in Universal Studios. How does it differ from the WWE ring style?

Kenny King: I love the TNA style. I came to a taping with Hawk from TE2 and Les who runs No Name Wrestling. He was doing some work as an on air security person. Who knew I was going to run into you and Jesse, who I hadn't seen in a few weeks. Jessie introduced me around and passed my tapes to some office people.

Jackie Gayda: Good night guys.

Kenny: Good night Jackie and Charlie (Haas). People crowding my interview time. Jessie put me over with Jeff Jarrett, Terry Taylor, Scott D'amore and Dixie Carter. My first match was against Abyss and everyone had good things to say about it. I think TNA is my style of wrestling. I am a high impact, explosive guy in the ring and that's what TNA is about.

Alan Wojcik: You went backstage so to speak in WWE, how does it differ from the TNA locker room and office staff?

Kenny King: I was never in the WWE locker room as a worker. From what I have seen, TNA is like a big family that likes to hang around each other. I mean we're outside a bar that the talent frequents and you have seen them first hand. I have heard the WWE is the same but being backstage as a worker is completely different then being there as a reality TV contestant.

Alan Wojcik: Besides Abyss, you have been in the ring with some of TNA's top talent. You have faced Team 3D, Rhino, Ron Killings and the tag team of Monty Brown and then NWA World Heavyweight champion Jeff Jarrett. When you go into a match like that, which the fans always call squash matches, do you go in hoping to use it as a learning experience or do you have a different perspective?

Kenny King: Every time you step in the ring you get better. It's an honor to step in the ring with Team 3D who I idolized growing up. You mentioned Jeff, Monty Brown, I have been fortunate to have been in the ring and as enhancement talent it's my job to make them look like a million bucks. So what I feel in the ring is the better they look the better I look. Right now that's my role and like you said its learning. How certain guys sell and why they do certain things in the ring. If my career ended tomorrow, hopefully not, I can say I have been in with some great workers.

Alan Wojcik: You got to also make your PPV debut being part of the TNA pre-show with Jay Lethal and Lance Hoyt facing Team Canada.

Kenny King: That crowd was electric. The feeling of a PPV is totally different then the normal Impact tapings. I haven't seen it yet but I heard the fans loved it. I got to show off my skills and the energy level made me want to do it again real soon.

Alan Wojcik: We mentioned No Name Wrestling, which is a local Orlando promotion. How does an NNW show differ from some of the other promotions that you see on my cheat sheet?

Kenny King: I enjoy working for NNW because it's geared towards kids. It's another show where I get to develop areas of my character better then at TNA. It's not a huge promotion but I enjoy it just as much as FIP or PWW.

Alan Wojcik: You just mentioned Pro Wrestling Warfare. I think it was your PWW debut where you took on ½ of the Naturals, Andy Douglas. What's it like to work with a guy who has been predominantly a tag team wrestler for the past couple of years?

Kenny King: Let me tell you Andy is awesome. He had me sucking wind and I am predominantly a singles wrestler.

Girl: Hey There.

Kenny: Hey. (Girl walks to a car.) Yikes that is definitely jail bait.

Alan Wojcik: Women were all over AMW when I did their interview. Women must like tape recorders or wrestlers.

Kenny King: Back to Andy Douglas. He is a phenomenal worker. For a tag team guy he kept up and we had a great match.

Alan Wojcik: You have been doing some work for another upstart, what can you tell me about AWF or Alliance Wrestling Force?

Kenny King: AWF is the biggest up and coming promotion in Florida. They began running this year and are run by a guy name Richard Merritt. I enjoy the shows. They aren't huge yet and it's not a mark run fed. They are working to get some marketing behind them and it could be up with FIP and PWW.

Thanks to Kenny King for his time. If you want more information about Kenny, check out http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=44799299

Thanks to TNA Wrestling for their time. They air on Spike TV and can also be seen at www.TNAWrestling.com, AWF info can be found at www.AWFPro.com, PWW is found at www.pwwf.com while FIP is located at www.fullimpactpro.com

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